Depends. 1) How long are the guests staying? Missing one day of school is different that missing a whole week of school. 2) How often do you see these guests? Is this cousins from once a year, or friends you are watching that you also see at church, martial arts, Coop? 3) How behind are you in core subjects? Sometimes you just can't afford to miss even one day. 4) How well do the kids do when unstructured? (Dd6 and I don't do well without a plan). Are other activities planned if you don't do well (zoo, park, game day, making cookies)? In our household, we would probably take the day off for friends. If Grandpa was visiting (he comes for a week at a time), we would do a lighter schedule of easier subjects. This is not because we don't do school. It is just because it is harder for me to do school with extra people around. If you can do it, you're a better man than me, Gunga Din!

dd is 6. In the last year, we have enjoyed: --Little House Series (especially the earlier books; the chapters seem shorter and more exciting for that age) --Dragon Slayer's Academy by Kate McMullan --American Girls (We've read the Rebecca series so far). --Beatrice and Ramona Series --Seriously Silly Stories (series) by Laurence Arnhold. EcoWolf and the Three Pigs was a favorite. Not series, but good books --Bettina Valentino and the Picasso Club by Niki Daly --Diary of a Fairy Godmother by Esme Raji Codell and Rachael Lillis (listened to this one on tape in the car; even the adults laughed out loud!) We plan to read, but have not yet: --Narnia series --Stories from Shakespeare (Usborne) --Stories from Dickens (Usborne) Does anyone know if "Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew" are worth reading?

This week I have been dealing with periodic stomach issues. I'm not sure if it's a virus or something I ate. Usually I have a stomach of steel, but not so much this week. When it gets unbearable for me, I have dd6 finish the subject we are on (or the part we are on), and we curl up on the couch to watch a Nova (Pharaoh's Chariot) or Nature (David Attenborough). Disclaimer: My children are young; dd6 is ahead in the subjects that count; and we live in a state that has very reasonable homeschooling laws (no counting of days or hours). ------------------------- As my daughters grow older, I will expect them to do at least some subjects independently. ------------------------------ The questions you need to answer are: (and you don't need to answer them here): 1) Is it unbearable for you yet? 100dF sounds unbearable to me. At a certain point, you're just making everyone miserable and not accomplishing what you need to do. You may be better off to get some rest and heal as fast as you can. 2) Are there subjects that your children can do independently if they are feeling better than you? Can they do 5 pages in something independent to eliminate it later? For us, this would be doing lots of Explode the Code on a sick day, and doubling up on Math or Phonics when we feel better. 3) How strict is your May 31st ending date? Is that a preference? A state-dictated deadline? Mandatory because swim lessons and summer camp begin June 1st? Necessary to keep the natives (kids) from getting restless by doing (perceived) extra days? Can you make it clear to the kids that you will take a sick day today, but will do some lessons on weekends to play catch-up? I hope you find what works for you. :grouphug: Feel better, Sweetie.

Please also consider whether each child is an extrovert or an introvert. That makes a difference. You are not the only parent that struggles with this.

Thanks so much for the input! You make me lol at some of your stories!

Language (Spanish). I have great great great ideas for teaching Spanish, and I would like dd to learn before she gets much older (she is 6). But Spanish would need to be done daily, and we are lucky to get math and phonics done daily at this time of year (afternoon activities cut our day short). I would also like her to learn Chinese. Our local Chinese school (that usually teaches the children of students at the university) has tried to offer parent/child classes, but no one has shown any interest. I am thinking about budgeting money, splurging on "Better Chinese," and asking the teacher if she would tutor dd and me in private sessions for an agreed upon price.

Thank you, Jane in NC, for posting Pullman's essay. You warmed my heart.

The 6yo girl in our house likes Martha Speaks, Wild Kratts, and WordGirl. :iagree: Or, you could trade her: One day she watches WordGirl; one day she watches Blues Clues.

We are expecting dd6 to lose the first tooth of our household any time. (Two new teeth have come in; nothing has fallen out; nothing is loose.) What do teeth go for these days? Loverboy was just curious.

We don't have teens yet, either, but, barring any major results from NIH studies about the vaccination, we will vaccinate. Yes, I am aware of the vaccination controversies. 1) I have followed the autism/vaccination controversy. Reading about it makes me believe in vaccinations (and question controversy following vaccinations) more than ever. 2) There is also a really good chapter about the flu virus and vaccination in the mid1970 written about in Laurie Garrett's book The Coming Plague. Again: correlation is not always causation. 3) Vaccinations provide herd immunity. Those who choose to vaccinate undergo a minor risk for the good of the herd (for our community). Those who choose to not vaccinate shirk that minor risk, and by doing so, put others at risk. Some cannot be vaccinated (allergies to eggs, etc). I choose to do my part to protect them. You may choose otherwise. 4) I had a friend who had cervical cancer at age 19. No 19yo should have to go through that. Disclaimer: by the time of vaccination, I would expect my daughters to have informed consent. If they feel strongly that they do not want the vaccine, we will delay it.

I also wanted to add the value of libraries as a place young people can learn about things that their parents can't (or won't) expose them to. I discovered Shakespeare, the concept of the Hundredth Monkey, and Tatterhood at my local library. I also learned about birth control by opening a random "women health" book. (I'm still waiting for "the talk" from my mom, so basically the library is what kept me from being a teen mom). Where else can kids read Bill Maher next to Bill O'Reilly? Ultimate Proof of Creation next to Origin of the Species? Captain Underpants next to the Chronicles of Narnia? I know that this idea of our children learning things parents don't want them to know strikes terror into many parents' hearts, but it has its place in our society. I remember reading some books only a chapter at a time because I dared not check it out and bring it home. It makes me wonder what books my own children will not check out. Reason for editing: A kitten died because of my careless apostrophe use.

I disagree with the author. Our library is also always packed, and individuals are turned away from some events. Other thoughts: 1) Libraries need vision, community support, and $$$ to transition to the next age of libraries. Don't get your panties in a bundle over libraries asking for money to transition. Imagine if hospitals, firemen, and universities had made no changes in the past 300 years. Change is coming, and for libraries to serve the new e-society, they must change, too. IMNSHO, our local library is a poster child for this. a) LOTS AND LOTS of programming. We have tons of children's programming -- everything from Hot Dog Dinner Theater to the standard "reading programs." Other programming includes: --film festivals --local music talent --English conversation group for individuals who want to work on their conversational English skills --Any clubs free and open to the public may reserve library rooms for use by their members for free. I have attended the knitting club there. b ) A tech guy who gives classes on how to use your ipad/nook/kindle to download books. c) Ebooks available to checkout. Iowa did something right by forming the WILBOR consortium for all participating Iowa libraries to share ebooks. d) Bookmobile instead of branch libraries. e) Employees that will pull books from the shelves and "hold" for me to pickup -- for free!!! This was a godsent when I worked 60+hours/week as an in-home daycare provider. This program is helpful for busy patrons/parents who don't have time to play hide-and-seek for a handful of books. f) Online access from home to library information: website, reserve books, check what is out on my account and when it is due...and renew online! 2) "Bookshops are closing down, he said, "because someone is giving away the product they are trying to sell." Uh, no. Bookstores are closing because people find it cheaper (25%+off) to purchase from Amazon. Bookstores are closing because in our busy lives, it is easier to have Amazon delivered to our front door. The other option is to put two kids in and out of carseats to drag them to the bookstore where they cannot touch. Amazon allows browsing at 3am in my underwear. Bookstores are closing because small bookstores have standard hours of ~9am-6pm. Most people would have to choose between picking up their kids on time from daycare, and going shopping for books. Bookstores are closing because they don't do good follow up with customers. My experience: we had a local book coop that I ordered and bought from often. However, more than once I would request a book, and I would never hear from them again. So is the book on order? Is it coming? Or were you just not able to get it? If you couldn't get it, that's fine. I'll look at another venue for that one item, but please follow up! 3) If anything, libraries are like drug dealers: they get you hooked on a product, and then as an adult, you continue to need the product...but often pay for it out of your pocket!! By providing many free children's books, children are hooked on the joy of reading. They learn the warmth of a good story, the glow of a happy ending, and the thrill of an unexpected and devastating twist. As a result, these children grow up to be readers themselves! --As good readers, they hold good jobs....and pay more taxes to support our schools, libraries, and businesses! --Even if they don't read for pleasure, they purchase books to aid them in work: computer manuals, Tony Robbin's newest book, textbooks for college! --The worst of offenders grow up and get their own children hooked on books by sharing their own childhood favorites with babies! Babies I tell you! Good Night Moon and Where the Wild Things Are! There are even Green Eggs and Ham involved! --Some even purchase books for OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN!!!!

Loverboy has found good resources at The Rock Shed. Loverboy says to check the clearance section. Loverboy just spent wayyyyyyyyyy too much money for our Rock-loving girls at Geoed.com. Note the spelling is NOT Geode (the rock) but GeoEd (Geology Education). He spent so much, I don't feel bad about what I plan to spend at the Homeschooling convention in a few months.... :thumbup: Others in the Hive have recommended the Geology taught by the Happy Scientist. Regretfully, I have not yet used this curriculum. It's just on my list of "to-do" with the girls.

I made my own. Goal: --Learn general location of all fifty states. --Become familiar with state flowers, flags, and birds. --Understand the general location of different geographical locations (Southern, Mountain, Pacific, New England, etc) --Know how to see a city on one map, and find its (unmarked except for a dot) counterpart on a second map --Learn main attractions and history of each state For each state: --Child marks the state (by abbreviation) on a national map (8-1/2 x 11 print-out) --Determine type of state (New England, Mid-Atlantic, Southern, Midwest, etc). Colorcode color it in on a second national map. --Label state on geographical area map. (Child identifies which map state should go on: New England states, Mid-Atlantic, Southern, etc). --On a map of the specific state, child identifies the capital, biggest cities, and geological locations (mountains, rivers, etc). Neighboring states are labeled by abbreviation. --Check out an age appropriate "state book" from the library. We are going through Our Amazing States. We're up to Ohio. Or just get an "all in one" book. Read the appropriate state information. --For each state, child colors the state flag, bird, and flower with accurate colors. (We discuss the color plan before she starts to color). Child writes the name of state flower and bird on each appropriate sheet. Coloring occurs during above reading. [Child writes the first 5-6 letters, and Mom writes the rest for each page). --Create a sheet for main fact about the state. We record state bird, state flower, and have a space for state [other]. We write down the capital, and 3 interesting things we learned from the book. We glue on a state seal (I have a PowerPoint file if you need it) and affix a state flag sticker (purchased from Rainbow Resource). --We put together a states puzzle. --We do an "app" on the Nook that quizzes us for states, flags, birds, and flowers. --After every 5 states, we take a lesson and play states games. Great States Junior is the favorite, but not the only one we have in the house. Warning: there are hidden costs in the amount of printing for this plan.

We divide the words into syllables. I write the divisions (either on the media/book if we own it, or on a small whiteboard). We mark digraphs and talk about the special sounds. If I have to, I cover the subsequent syllables, and let dd read ONLY one syllable at a time.

I have a Word file with several tables on it, one for each grade starting with "Age 4 Kindergarten." --I started this file because I am a total planning freak, and because I knew where we wanted to end up (Calculus for math, a certain level for IEW, full cycles for science and math) and worked backwards from there for some subjects. --I also didn't want to forget something timely from year to year. When to start typing? When to start Latin or other languages? Remember to incorporate skip counting into early math years to make multiplication a snap later! 4th grade is when most public school kids learn how to spell the states and their capitals! In 7th grade, I had a year of "Current Events" in the public school, and it taught me how to read a newspaper and primed me to know the players in the political arena. It has made me a better (more informed) citizen, and I want that for my daughters. --The charts also keep me on track. Just like everyone else, I am on a budget for homeschooling supplies. So last year after the homeschooling convention, I made a shortlist of what I would need to save for the next year's convention. It will be an expensive year because I want to purchase IEW. I also will need Science and History curriculum (Pandia). Knowing what I want to buy, I watch for 2nd-hand sales. I have purchased Saxon Math through Algebra at a discount price. --Also, I pay for grades. The Word file/charts allowed me to work out what to pay for what. K is worth 5c/lesson or page (depends on the subject). 1st is 6c/lesson or page. 2nd is 7c/lesson or page, etc. After all, 4th grade work is harder than K work, so it should be valued as such. In the same way, a college degree usually pays better than a high school diploma. I plant this seed in my children to encourage them to aim for a college degree or grad school. If anyone wants details on our payment schedule, feel free to PM me. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As I read the boards and find something clever or helpful, I cut and paste to an age-appropriate (or sometimes random) place on the file between charts. I have a 12-year cycle for Latin. I have a really good Learn-the-Countries program for early elementary. The breakdown of how to succeed with Saxon: Meeting, math facts, lesson. DON'T SKIP ANY PART. Busy Boxes for younger children, broken down by day. HIstorical fiction books to go with HIstory Odyssey 2 Electronics book to purchase after Snap Circuits. Khan Academy Etc, Etc. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm not married to these charts. They are merely a tool. Disclaimer: my oldest daughter is 6. We have no idea how long we will homeschool. We may go all the way through 12th, or we may send her to public school if that is the best choice for our family. Things I've ditched so far(through choice or attrition): HW Tears: Dd is sooooooo far ahead of these books. She gets plenty of writing just in her general studies. Spanish: FlipFlop is put away (too much writing for the year/age we tried it). We purchased Visual Link Spanish, but dd doesn't type yet. Now I'm using Usborne Spanish and making my own flashcards. Power Spelling -- We're doing modified Power Spelling through Saxon Phonics, but the Power Spelling book is packed away in the garage. But that is the glory of homeschooling: we can adjust things as we go along.

Okay, New Question: Have you noticed that the places we live are usually named after what we destroyed? I live in "Creekside" neighborhood. Next door is "Old Orchard." Anyone else want to share neighborhoods in their town (not necessarily announcing their own on the internet).

I have a few questions relating to this book. 1) How many parks are in your area? We are in Iowa, and our town seems to manage parks pretty well. We have 34 parks (one is a dog park, and one surrounds the aquatic center) for ~50K people (half are students and leave in the summer). I was STUNNED when Loverboy had a summer intern last summer from Maryland. The intern specifically commented on our parks, and how they didn't have that where he grew up. :w00t: It was one of those, "Oh, gee, everyone doesn't have a life just like mine!" kind of moments. 2) How is land used in your area? Our town just put several large buildings in the flood plain. :glare: Deer, geese, hawks, and possum had lived there. Now they are gone. Of course, it is just housing for the poor (section 8, who probably can't afford flood insurance or a flood disruption to their lives) and college students (who don't know they are living in a flood plain and time-wise cannot afford a flood disruption to their lives). FTR, we've had five "100-year floods" since 1975. The next town over just declares the flood plain as "park" and builds elsewhere. 3) How much do you let your kids do crazy things in nature? Me, not so much. I do let nature treasures into the house though. I am spoiled because Loverboy takes the girls all over. They trespass into the field to the east of us, and visit the little pond there. They collect rocks, walk under the dam (it's a foot high, don't freak out), and walk on the frozen pond at the center of our trailer court. When frogs get trapped in the window well of the Community Center, Loverboy hauls his stepladder and a bucket a block up the road to rescue them. (One autumn, we rescued over 20!) I just can't take credit for this. It is all Loverboy.

This is a PSA. 1) The Monthly Book Club has moved to the Chat Board. We belong there because we are not specifically discussing homeschooling issues. How to find us: Click "Forums." Scroll down the page of Forums listed to find "The Chat Board." It's near the bottom. The title is "MBC Feb13 Last Child in the Woods." 2) I have started a thread for Last Child in the Woods for February 2013. It is here. (This is the Chat Board). 3) If you caught this announcement and it is on the 2nd or 3rd page of topics, please bump it so others can find us. (For those who don't know, we started the MBC on this "General Education Discussion Board" and have had two MBC threads here already to discuss the plausibility of the club and to vote on books. We are now transitioning to the Chat board and trying to get everyone moved who wants to participate.)

Welcome! You found us! This is the virgin voyage of our monthly book club! We voted on books to read, and the selection to discuss during February 2013 is Last Child in the Woods. Please feel free to drop in and join us if you have EVER read this book and have something valuable to add to the conversation. First, some housekeeping: 1) Future books (according to the vote): March 2013: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain April 2013: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien 2) If you are not interested in reading specific a book, then skip that month. Our time is too valuable to be reading things we resent reading. Likewise, we welcome those who are only participate sporadically. The ideal is that many voices will result in a good discussion. 3) Keep in mind suggestions for future books clubs (if we can make it through the first few months). We'll take suggestions to vote in the last half of March. This will possibly occur on a separate thread. 4) Play nice. I don't want to get banned! 5) Our former voting thread is here. There are some relevant comments already from readers, so I recommend that you pop over there to scan them, or for the OP's to copy + paste or rewrite what they had to share here. PSA: I have never run a "book club." I am not planning to start now, beyond the basic organization of voting and starting monthly threads. However: --Please feel free to pm me if I miss something mechanical. --Don't take it personally if I don't get right back to you. Sometimes life gets busy, and I am absent from the boards for a week or so at a time. Good question! Answer (I should post IMHO, but instead I'll post "In my all-powerful role as thread-starter!"---the power has gone to my head!): IMAPRATS, Do what works for you. Do what will help you get the most out of this process. I'm hoping to have the appropriate book read by the first of each month to get the most out of discussion....but I'm also planning to run late. (13 pages to go in Last Child!)

Whatever you choose, I would also check out Cliffs Notes for the book. I thoroughly enjoyed the book when I read it in my early 20s, but I also had the Cliffs Notes to help me through it. Usually, I would do a portion of the reading, and after, read the comparable commentary. Then I got to the part where Victor Hugo spent 5 chapters describing the French sewer system. :ohmy: Checking the commentary reassured me that I wouldn't miss anything important if I scanned the rest of that section. It saved me. I also remember the description of the denouement being particularly good, and I have shared it with other lovers of the book to explain how Hugo would cross-tie all of his characters.

I have no knowledge of specific studies that suggest a writing-spelling word connection, but I recently heard about brain research that links remembering information to physically writing it out. The researchers questioned how this would reflect in our increasingly digital world, where kids type at an earlier age. The adage is to learn a word, one must read it 5 times hear it 5 times write it 5 times spell it 5 times ----------------------------------------------------------------- Why not do a mixture of writing, tiles, and aloud spelling? You could do: 5 words written 5 words tiles 5 words aloud or 1/3 written 1/3 tiles 1/3 aloud or whatever variation works for you and your daughter. This is why we homeschool: to do what works for us! :party:

Is it legal to homeschool someone else's children? Our state (and I imagine most states) say that, unless you have a teaching degree, only the parents can homeschool the children. There are exceptions for parents trading teaching, or some such thing. ----------------------------------------- I homeschooled for the family I nannied/babysat for, but I didn't make any of the homeschooling decisions. The mom made all of the curriculum choices and laid out our daily expectations for the two days a week the mom worked. I was just "the ENFORCER." [thunder sounds in the background]

There are no guarantees. My maternal grandmother died suddenly at age 52 or 53. (I was ~3.5yo). The rest of the grandparents, including the stepgrandmother my grandfather remarried, all lived until I was in my early 30s, except for Grandma Duck, who is 92 and will outlive us all. My first daughter was born when I was 36. 2nd (and last) at 42. I don't want them to hurry to marry or have kids. I also think that there are other ways to leave a legacy. Grandma Duck has set aside some college money for each of the great-grandkids to use for education (as long as my dad doesn't lose any more of it through bad investments). My girls are so young, and we rarely visit Grandma Duck because of the distance. They will not have the memories of spending the night at Grandma's house, making apple pie, and walking beans in the fields. But she has made their lives better in a way that will not even begin until she has most likely passed.

My music background: --A couple of years of piano as a kid, but I never practiced, and had no structure from my parents. --Several years of violin as a kid, but I never practiced, and had no structure from my parents. --On-and-off a few years of recorder lessons as an adult, with the goal of practicing every day. --Exposure to Suzuki methods for piano and recorder. I decided that if my children took music lessons, they would have more support to practice nearly every day. Dd just turned 6, and she has been learning piano for about 2 years. We started with group lessons at the local music studio, but it was not a good fit. The price was very expensive for our budget, the teacher had no plan, and the teacher kept arriving late. So I started teaching dd myself. We have "lesson" every day. I sit with her and guide the practice. A timer is set for 20 minutes. (We had started at 15 minutes, but dd knows too much). Dd plays a warm up song, then we play through the songs she knows. We used to play through everything she knows, but that easily ate through the whole time with no practice for new songs. Now her songs are divided into three columns, and she plays one column each day. It is a beautiful thing to see her play with these songs that she knows so well. She changes the fingerings; she jumps from one octive to another with ease; she plays the melody with both left and right hands on neighboring octives; she switches hands. This has all occured naturally and on her own. And really, she is not a child who is naturally wired for music. As a toddler, she never danced to music. When new songs are introduced, we do just one phrase at a time. Dd is 6, so I challenge her to play the new part 6 times, and she seems to like that. Or we roll a die to determine what to play. We play through what she knows so far. We discuss the theory parts of the new song each day it is worked on: a flat, a tie, a pick-up note, and parts of the song that repeat are marked by shapes in colored pencil. If I think that she needs to strengthen what she knows already, we play a dice game to practice the parts. We also play lots of music games for fun and to teach theory, but that's another post. So our lesson: Set timer. Play warm-up song (first song in the book). Play review songs (~5 minutes). Work on new songs (~5 minutes). Theory book (some days) Game (~5 minutes) If we get to the last minute on the timer, and we are still at the keyboard, we just play mixed up notes of whatever we want. We practice nearly every day, but dd earns 25c for every day that she practices. When she was taking lessons for $20/25minutes, I realized that an extra $1.75/week is a small price to pay to have her well practiced between lessons. The time will come that dd will outgrow my meager musical abilities, or she will be self-disciplined and focused enough to practice on her own, but this is how we do it for now.